Audiophiles...advice please

[silent_riot]

Trust your ears and not the self proclaimed audiophiles.
Owning "audiophile" equipment or equipment of a certain value does not make you an audiophile as has been proven in the thread.

Get acquainted with live sound performances and train your ear to listen for qualities of good sound.

You may want good sound but incorrectly used the term audiophile instead, thus understand what is good sound first and tune your system accordingly.

[Rainman]

lol...what an arsehole!

All I read was "I'm an audiophile...blah blah blah...I spent an enormous amount of money on headphones because I know all about audio...blah blah blah...I'm telling you I'm not gonna lecture you, but I'mma lecture you anyway...blah blah blah...car audio is just SPL...blah blah blah...'twas a general statement (blackpedal)...blah blah blah...I'm a presumptuouscock who thinks your definition of SQ is blasting dancehall in a car park because I'm so aloof...blah blah blah...you'll never afford super expensive audio equipment so your car will always sound likeshit hitting water...blah blah blah...tube amplifiers give the best SQ...blah blah blah...Bose is for plebs...blah blah blah..."

To the OP: it works out better to examine reviews, ask opinions, maybe even visit the stores to hear it yourself before purchasing equipment. And even so, how it sounds in the store and in your own installation may be worlds apart. Not everyone's ears hears the same thing. Ultimately, it's to please you, not ppl on this forum.

Now you didn't start off great, but there are things to be done if you're not interested in selling your existing set-up in favor of a better quality one...speakers placement in the room, replacing speakers in their enclosures, equalization...there's some stuff you can do.
You don't have to spend a million dollars on your music to get a million-dollar sound. It's about what sounds good to YOU.

ALL TEN!

[SR]

compressed music can never be used for truly Arsesessing audio equipment

no matter how lost lessss it may be its still compressed and missing some fundamentals

[ru$$ell]

compressed music can never be used for truly Arsesessing audio equipment

no matter how lost lessss it may be its still compressed and missing some fundamentals

correct, I ripped my Simon & Garfunkel Greatest Hits CD to mp3, when I listened to the rips Garfunkel was missing, *gasp*...

ass,you make me buss out one hard laugh with that one

[SR]

i suspect what he meant was that garfunkels voice in the background disappeared on the ripped versions or was barely audible

[ru$$ell]

oh

[Rainman]

i suspect what he meant was that garfunkels voice in the background disappeared on the ripped versions or was barely audible

You've never met him, have you?

He meant exactly what he said!

[nos_specialist]

lol...what an arsehole!

All I read was "I'm an audiophile...blah blah blah...I spent an enormous amount of money on headphones because I know all about audio...blah blah blah...I'm telling you I'm not gonna lecture you, but I'mma lecture you anyway...blah blah blah...car audio is just SPL...blah blah blah...'twas a general statement (blackpedal)...blah blah blah...I'm a presumptuouscock who thinks your definition of SQ is blasting dancehall in a car park because I'm so aloof...blah blah blah...you'll never afford super expensive audio equipment so your car will always sound likeshit hitting water...blah blah blah...tube amplifiers give the best SQ...blah blah blah...Bose is for plebs...blah blah blah..."

To the OP: it works out better to examine reviews, ask opinions, maybe even visit the stores to hear it yourself before purchasing equipment. And even so, how it sounds in the store and in your own installation may be worlds apart. Not everyone's ears hears the same thing. Ultimately, it's to please you, not ppl on this forum.

Now you didn't start off great, but there are things to be done if you're not interested in selling your existing set-up in favor of a better quality one...speakers placement in the room, replacing speakers in their enclosures, equalization...there's some stuff you can do.
You don't have to spend a million dollars on your music to get a million-dollar sound. It's about what sounds good to YOU.

HOSS, i read d samee thing....lol, dat man is an a class ahole jed. I own a 6000 headphone blah blah blah is right....I have a $60.00 headphone that will rack he up anyday.

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

based on what you have, trust your own ear. if you prefer how things sound with those enhancements enabled, go for it.

BUT, Most well encoded music/video is meant to be heard with NO additional processing (ie enhancements)
and most good music is designed to be played on Stereo speakers - Left and right Channels

I agree 100%

[Cjruckus]

I stilll rock Vinyl. Doesn't get better than that.

Need some new speakers though.

[Mr. Go Slow]

My 2 cents ....

Audiophile on a budget? Then you have a few options:

1. Internet direct - A growing number of high quality speakers are begin sold directly via Internet based sales, avoiding the usual premium markup that comes with buying a "conventional" brand out of a store. Try (for example): www.ascendacoustics.com for example. I owned their CBM 170's and they are very good indeed.

2. Used - Your typical "audiophile" type is always upgrading ... It's the nature of the addiction, so take advantage of that and get some equipment at a best $$$: www.audiogon.com

3. A crappy pair of speakers will sound a whole lot better with an excellent source / electronics backing it, an amazing pair of speakers will sound like rubbish, with a crappy or underpowered (incapable) source / electronics ... Keep that in mind and don't skip on your source equipment, DAC, AMP, transport ...

4. DIY - Lot of plans on the net for DIY subs / speakers. Done well, give a lot of bang for your $$$.
Try: http://diyaudioprojects.com/

5. Start with a 2.0 (stereo) setup and build from their if necessary.

6. Read alot, but more importantly, audition a lot ... Develop your ear, so you know what YOU like and build a system accordingly ... Some love the dynamics of a high efficiency setup (horns) with tube gear (for example) to soften the aggressive highs. some prefer line arrays, or ribbon tweeters and will tolerate nothing else. It's personal and up to you.

Hope this helps ... Really the least of your concerns is how to EQ or whatever ...

[cinco]

i love this thread
to the OP
if you are searching for audiophile quality your search is an endless one.
you will get to a point where you think it can sound no better and then you hear something better
if money is an issue start with what is the most comfortable sounding to YOU within your price range and move on from there dont let anyone chain you up it is for your listening pleasure.
sadly lots of people are happy with their Z*** systems and consider that the best thing since sliced bread. Online reviews are a guide but you need to hear it for yourself and be the judge

[crazybalhead]

Mr. Go Slow gave EXCELLENT advice.

[mazda_star]

Props to Mr. Go Slow, great advice.

Also note
Not all compression is lossy,there are lossless codecs such as flac, ape, which you can/should convert your favourite songs to, the only downside they tend to be a bit larger but thats a small price to pay for quality.